thirtysomething...

So I had this whole book written about what's been going on the last couple of weeks. After reading it through a couple of times, correcting grammer, spelling & the like I came to a realization. It Sucked. So you'll have to do without my crappy epic.

Here's a shorter version:

My mother, her husband and my grandparents came over for a two week stay. It was Mom's first trip off the North American continent, and I think she did pretty good. Her husband Jim had been over about 20 or so years ago, and my grandparents came over, if I remember correctly, 25 years ago for their 25th wedding anniversary. Heather and I had a few things planned for everyone to do, and then they took side trips during the week as well. The main places we all went to were Sissinghurst Gardens in Bendenden, Stonehenge & Salisbury, and London. Closer to the end of their stay we took an old steam train from Tenderden to Bodium and wandered the grounds of Bodium Castle. When we went to Salisbury we stayed overnight at a B&B on an old farm, which was pretty cool. Parts of the house dated back to the 1600's ,1700's & 1800's. The owners kept adding on and adding on. Very interesting. Drove by Sting's house on the way to Stonehenge from the Salisbury Cathedral. Sorry no pics of that.

I say this knowing that it will be read by those involved...I love my family, but damn, they can wear you out. :)

Once everyone left, Heather and I had 2, count'em, 2 whole days to ourselves before getting on a plane to the US. Originally the trip to the US was scheduled to be two weeks for a wedding we wanted to attend, but the bride and groom decided on a tiny (read: courthouse) wedding, a family dinner afterwards, and a Family & Friends Get-Together sometime later TBA. We missed all those things. :/ Oh well. We had other stuff we needed to do anyway.

While we were there, I picked out all the tile needed for the House Renovation. Confirmed plumbing fixtures, flooring options, re-supplied the renovation bank account and generally milled about taking pictures of the renovation. It's coming along!! Heather said all we would need to stay at the house was a tent and a cooler. There was already a Port-o-let on the front porch. Took care of a few household upgrades for a friend, worked a SCCA Club Race in the middle of everything... It was Non-Stop the WHOLE time we were back in the US.

Speaking of the Club Race. Well, let's have some backstory. On the plane ride over, I had trouble with, well, my plumbing. Kept feeling like I had to go ALL the time, and when I actually got up, there wasn't much coming out. Back on the ground, it continued, but no troubles now with flow. I figured it was just travel & stress issues. Jump forward one week to the next weekend. A bud of mine and I took his parent's RV to Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. It's Saturday, I'm working Corner 9 in the middle of a straight-away, just before the ass-puckering "Kink" at 10 and 11. I'm drinking tons of water to stay hydrated cause we're out there all day. Also having to run off to the woods by the Corner Station to take a piss between EVERY Practice Session, and Qualifying Session. At this point I really didn't think much of it because of the amount of water I was drinking. We (the SCR autocrossers working the event) went out that night to a Greek/Italian place, have a few beers, then head back to the track.

Sunday morning. During the morning constitutional everything seemed fine, and then BAAAAAAAAAM! I'm literally bent over in half, sitting on the toilet in EXCRUCIATING pain. I really thought I was gonna die/explode. This was no "Lactose Moment" that I'm occasionally prone to have. This was something else Entirely. Sad thing about screaming in pain while sitting on a toilet in an RV that's parked about 200 yards from a very active racetrack. No One Hears You. AT ALL. Even if you do it for 3 or 4 hours. I must have passed out cause when I came to Practice & Qualifying were over, and it was lunchtime, and I was (relatively speaking) in no pain. Walked over to one of the Ambulances in the Paddock, explained what happened to the EMT and he goes, "Kidney Stone. That's what you've got. And I can't help ya."

WHAT?

He said he didn't even have an aspirin to give me. I gave him the "You're full of Shit" squint look and walked back to the RV.

Crap. What now. Well, I summoned up the courage, explained to my friends what was going on and slid into the MINI and drove to Charleston. The next day, went to my doctor's office, got some antibiotics and pain meds. By the end of our stay in the US, it was all over. No Pain, No constant need to pee. Only the dread of getting on a 9 hour plane ride and having the gravel begin again. Back in the UK, still no problems. I will tell you that I had my bottle of Lortab VERY close by on the plane.

I must have passed the stone at the track, but I never saw it. :shrug:

Well, that's all I've got for now. If you don't see anything written here for extended periods, it's cause what ever I wrote sucked. I've realized that I can't force myself to write something and if I do, it's not enjoyable to read, IMO.

As always, click the thumbnails to view the photo journals. Be sure to read Heather's Guest Blog & her photos!!

Easter is one of my favorite days. Flowers are blooming, people are smiling, and David goes to church. Unfortunately this Easter, David didn’t go because he went last week for Palm Sunday. So, off I tread to my, I mean God’s, local Baptist church in Headcorn. During the announcements they announce that the Easter Parade will start at 12:00 with singing and balloons. We would walk down the High Street, Main Street for the Americans, announcing the risen Lord.

Home I go full of the excitement of a parade but tinged with the sadness of going alone. When I get home the words just pop out of my mouth, “Hey David, do you want to go to the Easter Parade?” Would you believe he actually said “Yes”? Okay I confess, I neglected to tell him we would be part of the procession. I also left out the part about the balloons, singing, and announcing the risen Lord.

We head off to the church, but half way I start feeling a little guilty and tell David that I’m not quite sure what is going to happen. I don’t remember being in an Easter Parade, but I can definitely imagine it is something David is not going to enjoy.

Anyway, all the parishioners from the local churches are gathering. There are several large banners, small flags for each person, and balloons with Bible verses attached. We march in a procession three blocks down to the Village Center and form a semi-circle. We launch into song, singing 12 glorious hymns the last being Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Hallelujah! A prayer is said at the end and then we launch our balloons with the attached verses.

So what really happened…. Somehow David and I are near the front, but on the back row. About song four I notice a couple of people on the other side pointing at various people in the group one of which being David. I start thinking… they are pointing at people not having fun. My mind starts racing and six degrees later I have come to the conclusion that I have ruined this wonderful witness opportunity by being selfish and inadvertently tricking David into keeping me company. But by song six I have calmed down and have begun to focus on the moment. David starts to look a little more alive and I’m waving my flag and singing with all my heart. I notice the other guy not singing on the back row who also got pointed at getting more into it and smiling my way. Then a mother with a small two year old girl walks by and David and I stop them to give the little girl one of our balloons. You should have seen her face light up and would you believe purple is her favorite color too! Through songs ten and eleven, David focuses on untangling my remaining three balloons. Song twelve comes along and it just happens to be the song I was singing as we walked to the church from our house. We end the parade and David releases the balloons…. You read that right David releases the balloons. I had another brief panic attack thinking the balloons were doomed because they were sent off by a heathen. I quickly regroup, bless the balloons as they fly away, and hand out two remaining verse tags to some passerby’s. They ask what church we are from and I say we are from all churches in the village. The gentleman says oh you are from an American Church…notice the tinge of disappointment. I quickly counter, yes I’m American, but these people aren’t. I introduce my friend and we have a brief bonding moment with the gentleman who asks us to sing another song. As David and I head home, I thank him for attending and I apologized if he was miserable. David surprisingly said he tried not to look too frowny and was glad he could go if it made me happy.

As I contemplate those brief thirty minutes, I’m reminded of the joy of just living and being a child of God. Thirty minutes of sharing the spirit, respecting a husband for who he is, marveling at God’s small wonders, and experiencing the wonders of his creation with strangers.


Editor's Note: Names have been changed to throw off the NSA, and to make the day better, I did see an old Morgan on the way to the torture, and a DB9 on the way home.

I'm working on photos from the past few weeks. It's been kinda hectic, as you can see from the delay between the last posts. All will be revealed shortly.